Monday Bolts – 12.27.10

The Mavericks have defended Kevin Durant well says Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas: “As phenomenal as last season was for Kevin Durant, he still couldn’t extract the one thorn in his side: The Dallas Mavericks‘ defense. Since he entered the league as a rookie with the Seattle SuperSonics through his third season when he emerged as a bona fide MVP candidate with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant has put up more bricks against Dallas’ defense than any other in the league — and that’s when the Mavs had been considered only decent defenders. In Durant’s career, he’s averaged fewer than 20 points a game against just two teams — Dallas (18.7) and Orlando (17.6), but he’s played more than twice as many games against the Mavs (11) as the Magic (five). His career field goal percentage is below 40 percent against only two teams, the same two: 37.4 percent (68-of-182) against the Mavs; 37.0 percent (30-of-81) against the Magic.”

Does the Thunder need a rival Darnell Mayberry asks: “So does the Thunder and Oklahoma City need a rival? Having one could boost fan interest even further and turn regular season games against a particular opponent into playoff-like atmospheres. But the Thunder hasn’t had an issue with interest. OKC has sold out 13 of its 16 home games this season.”

NBA.com’s power rankings: “For the season, the Thunder play at a faster-than-average pace, but they might want to slow it down. They’re 11-2 when they play at a pace slower than their season average. And though playing the second night of a back-to-back had something to do with it, they just couldn’t keep up with the Knicks on Wednesday.”

HoopsWorld looks at tandem MVP combos: “Westbrook has been one of the league’s most dynamic and dominant players since opening night back in October. Durant, a pre-season favorite to take home the MVP hardware, got off to a bit of a sluggish start and was then slowed by an injury, but is rounding back into peak form.”

Ziller maps out the youthful side of the NBA: “Now about the team younger than all of these squads: the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder have a weighted team age of 23.59 years — about 100 days or so younger than the Wolves. Yet the Thunder are a solid playoff team hoping to move even higher and challenge the West’s elite by year’s end. Some will say it’s not fair, that OKC has four top-five picks all on their rookie contracts. In light of that, note that Sacramento is preparing to win its third-straight top five pick (barring a miracle), and the Wolves are right around the corner.”

Finally, a happy birthday to my dear old dad. And I emphasize the old part.

Morgan :Since we are talking trades: http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=29kvagvDepth Chart:PG: Russ/MaynorSG: Thabo/Harden/MasonSF: KD/Chandler/WilliamsPF: Serge/Collison/C: Nene/Aldrich/Mullens/CurryObviously Curry is just an expiring and the same probably goes for williams and mason but I really like Chandler. We give up Green, Kristic, White, and a few guys that rarely play.

@blade_Perhaps, but it would also require a long term commitment. It would have been a lot easier to give him a long term contract after actually seeing him play for us. Now, we have to project just too much. If he continues being lackluster when he has a 3+ year contract, it will have a large impact even if he's not particularly expensive.

DizzyDai :It seems that there is a rather low opinion of Dalembert around here. He has size. He can block and rebound. Is he not mobile?

I liked him at the deadline last year because we’d have an opportunity to take a long look at him. In free agency, I don’t like him as much, especially if he’s coming off an underwhelming season.

Id prefer to get him after a underwhelming season but knowing that he's capable to do rather than after a overwhelming season when everybody is trowing their money at him because they think he took 'the nenxt step'...

@f5alconYe I am sure draft picks would be a must in that trade, probably the Clipps pick and one of our own. Curry's negative per is pretty hilarious. It must take real talent to have a negative PER. From what I can tell on ESPN.com 317 players have a positive PER this season. That is a lot of scrubs.

In that scenario though I don't see any reason for Denver to want Chandler if they are getting Green. However, if they want to play Jeff or Chandler at the PF and have the same problems we have been having then that would be fine with me.

Dalembert is playing with a new team and DeMarcus Cousins. I believe that's partly the reason for his decline and definitely the reason why he got benched. Even with Dalembert's current regression he's still 2.4 blocks and 5.4 boards better that Krstic (per 36 minutes).

I really feel that if Dalembert gets a good change of scenery his number will increase a bit.

Wilson is good at PF, especially with a guy like Melo/Fields at the 3 making up for his rebounding. I feel like Chandler would have to go to denver in a NY/Denver trade. Dude has gotten so much better every season.

@justinYeah I've noticed Gasol hasn't been rebounding as well this year, he was never truly dominant to begin with. I think playing next to Zach Randolph (who's good for 10-15 rebounds a game) has a lot to do with that. Gasol could easily grab 8-10 here in OKC per game.

He is absolutely an upgrade. I'm not saying I wouldn't want him at all, I'm just saying that out of all the potentially available centers listed, he would be pretty low on my list. When it comes to one-way players, I'd much rather have the tremendous defender (Perkins) at the 5 than a decent offensive player who can't really be counted on to get the job done when we get on a cold streak. Nene's not someone you usually just dump the ball down to and let him go to work like a Carlos Boozer. He's not going to bail a team out like that.

If he’s so certain to sign the extension with whatever team he’s on by the deadline then why hasn’t he signed the extension already?Anthony is willing to leave some money on the table to choose where he plays.So...I'm Melo, I want to go to NY under the current CBA and my $65 million extension, but NY can't give a fair offer. The only way I can get to NY is by forcing my way. So...I put out feelers and inuendo that I will only sign with NY when I would possibly sign with other teams. NJ, Houston, LA Clippers might be OK, but why do that now if I can force a NY trade...smokescreens, baby...

Anyway, it's just speculation. I personally think Melo will eventually sign with whoever trades for him, but he may not. He may hold out to the end and leave 10-20 million on the table...

@okc babyI think Houston is the darkhorse for Melo. I think they are willing to take Melo without an extension where NJ is not. I think Orlando missed an opportunity to land Melo with the trades they pulled off, or this whole ordeal could be over.

As far as Nene, he would be great for us. He's not an elite defender as a center, but he is great on offense, especially the offensive glass. His averages over the last 3 seasons:

@AnonymousWell, right now it is in Denver's (and Anthony's) best interest to make a trade with NY. Anthony doesn't lose any money if he can force a trade, Denver loses big if they get nothing in return for Anthony. Denver right now is just hoping that if they get closer to the deadline that Melo will relax his stance on only signing with the Knicks. Both the Nets and the Rockets can offer better packages for Melo, but won't make the trade unless he signs an extension.

DizzyDai :It seems that there is a rather low opinion of Dalembert around here. He has size. He can block and rebound. Is he not mobile?

I'm a numbers guy...here's Dalembert's numbers:

4.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.76 bpg, .7 assist to turns, 12.4 PER

He's regressed this year. Shooting 40% for a center is pretty terrible, though he does rebound and block shots at a pretty decent rate. Considering the Kings really liked him, traded for him, then stuck him on the bench, that tells you what you need to know. He's below average.

Wait, why does everyone seem to want Nene so badly? I mean he has some nifty moves on offense but the dude's a softy who can't defend at all. Sure, he'd be an option in the low post, but not that great of one, and he hasn't proven to be anything but a big body on D.

@SammyI don't think Melo will be a rental. Whoever gets him will eventually sign him because of the new CBA. This is just my opinion, but I don't think Melo leaves that much money on the table with an uncertain future just to sign with the Knicks. If Houston trades for him, I think he'll sign with the Rockets.

DizzyDai :Anyone willing to clarify trades and extensions? I thought extensions had to be agreed to by the end of October. How can extensions be sign after a trade in the middle of the season?Would the player simply be agreeing to an earlier offer that hasn’t expired yet.Or are teams receiving a player via trade granted the right to workout an extension?Oh yeah. How did we do a Collison extension in the middle of the season?

All depends on the player and what type of free agent they will become. JG will be a RFA on his rookie contract, just as KD would have been if he had not signed. Those players must be signed before a set deadline expires or they become RFA at the end of the year. That way a player like JG knows his fate at the end of the year...his team did not extend a good enough offer, so he can test FA.

Collison, who would have been an UFA, or Melo who can become and UFA, can extend their current contract at any time up until the new year, June 30th.

justin :Send Scola to Denver in that deal. Scola + Yao and prospects for Melo (assuming he is willing to sign an extension) is a good trade for Houston.Jeff Green and Aldrich for Nene is a good trade assuming he is willing to sign an extension.

I love Scola. I think he would be great on this team. Nene would be great as well, but Scola is the better rebounder. Nene more athletic. A front line of Durant, Scola, Nene, with Ibaka and Collison coming off the bench would be great. It would also free up minutes for Harden to play the backup 3, though he is undersized...

yeah, I figured it must be something like that. Though the name -- it sounds a bit, well... sugar plum fairy-ish. I mean, look at the big tough NBA players wearing their precious "Christmas day snowflakes". Has kind of a "my little pony" charm to it.;)

I think there was some filler...Peterson and Krstic, Jeffries maybe, but the deal worked. Denver gets good filler, takes a risk on Yao, hordes picks. Houston basically trades Scola straight up for Melo, and we get good pieces.